(Bloomberg) -- Bank of America is sticking to its $85-a-barrel forecast for oil in 2022, with possible surges past $100 if air travel rebounds.
The omicron variant of the coronavirus could “dislocate the trajectory a bit from recovery but we don’t know how it will play out,” Francisco Blanch, the bank’s head of commodities, said in a presentation Wednesday.
Blanch also noted that the U.S. doesn’t intend to revert to prior measures to stop the spread of the variant and that treatments for the virus are also being rolled out within the next two months.
The bank expects global oil demand to reach 100.5 million barrels a day next year. Still, potential risks for oil prices beside omicron include more releases from strategic petroleum reserves and relaxed sanctions on Iran.
